Update: Oregon Employment Department's Testimony to Senate Interim Committee On Labor and Business

Last week, the Oregon Employment Department (OED) applied for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program grant through FEMA and received an award letter that you can access here. Like regular unemployment insurance (UI) or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits, the LWA payments are taxable under federal law. If taxes are withheld from other benefits, they will also be withheld from the LWA benefits.

The LWA program only provides federal funding for $300 weekly benefit payments. Official guidance from the Department of Labor prohibits states from using Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund money to provide the additional $100. Providing the additional $100 per week would require the Oregon Legislature to appropriate money to pay for those benefits. 

Through our legislative offices, our constituents have communicated with OED about PIN and restart issues with PUA claims over the past several weeks. To address this, OED made a change in the system to ensure that the PIN does not get deleted when a restart on PUA is being processed. This should help you access the system without having to take the extra step of resetting your PIN. If there are issues, this link will help you create a new pin.

Interim Director David Gerstenfeld, who took the helm of OED, provided invited testimony (virtually) in front of the 2019-2020 Senate Interim Committee on Labor and Business. If the benefits paid are looked at as payroll, the Employment Department would be the largest employer, the largest industry, and the third largest industry sector in Oregon. You can access the committee testimony on OLIS and additional information here.  

For more information about filing for unemployment insurance benefits, visit unemployment.oregon.gov. To submit a question related to unemployment insurance, please use the Contact Us form. Also, you can access the link for the school related webinar https://youtu.be/gNt_iv0pNtM and the link to the website page with related school employee recess information here.

The Capitol Building is currently closed to the public and meetings are taking place remotely.  You can access a live stream of this meeting here. Locate the meeting date and click on the camera icon at the designated time. A viewing station will also be available outside on the front steps of the Capitol Building.

Additional updates:

• Governor's press release to her announcement that she would extend the foreclosure moratorium and extendsion of the state of emergency for an additional 60 days.
• Uninsured Oregonians who were not able to sign up for private health coverage due to COVID-19 can still enroll. HealthCare.gov has made it easier for uninsured consumers to enroll in coverage through its existing national emergency or major disaster exceptional circumstances special enrollment period (SEP). 
• The Office of Emergency Management is also promoting September as National Preparedness Month and the importance of being prepared for sudden emergencies.
• The Senate Committee on Labor and Business had their first hearing with OED on UI benefits today.  One document shared during the meeting was a timeline of events/changes within the program that committee members found useful.
• SB 52 or Adi’s Act from 2019. It resulted in a partnership with OHA, ODE and Lines for Life to support suicide prevention programs in schools.
• OPB’s Think Out Loud today interviews family members of Oregonians who were killed by police (going back to 1996 and including Quanice “Moose” Hayes). It’s a good listen.
• ICYMI, the O Editorial Board put out an op-ed encouraging Oregonians to vote early and track their ballots.
• Street Roots profiled four lawyers who are working to address police reform and brutality.
• HB 4301-passed in the Second Special Session was signed into law today.
• Governor Brown announced a unified plan to address violence and protect speech. Some of the area law enforcement issued countering statements.
• Outside the mayor’s building, an officer was filmed breaking a line and tackling a protester and hitting him repeatedly.
• The Pendleton Police Chief spoke about his coordination with organizers at the BLM protests and how it led to a peaceful event.
• In a report analyzing our modeling and school reopening efforts show the prioritization of public health and safety in Oregon’s plans.
• Old Navy announced that it will pay its employees should they choose to work at polling places in November.

email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1705
address: 900 Court St NE, S-417, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan